The classes in the Reflection namespace give you the ability to view a class(objects) fields and methods. Overriding the ToString method provides a quick way to spew the objects current state to the console. You don't need to write code to access each field individually. This is particularly helpful if the class contains a lot of mebers.

The UsingGetValue method below provides some interesting insight on how FieldInfo::GetValue method works. The parameter to get value is the object instance for which to get the value. The call to get value in the code below is  myClass1.UsingGetValue(myClass2);

#region Using directives

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Text;

using System.Reflection;

namespace Main

class MyClass

public int someInteger = 10; //Some fields

public string someMsg; // Some method.

public MyClass(int i, string str)

this.someInteger = i;

this.someMsg = str;

static void Main(string[] args)

MyClass myClass1 = new MyClass(5, "Hello");

Console.WriteLine();

Console.WriteLine();

// The code below show how the GeValue method works.

MyClass myClass2 = new MyClass(10, "World");

myClass2 with member values 10 and World.

Console.WriteLine("Calling myClass1.UsingGetValue(myClass2);");

Console.WriteLine("Press any key ...");

Console.Read();

// Override to string to dump the objects field and method before calling the default base class implementation

public override string ToString()

string val;

Type t = typeof(MyClass); // Get the type of the class we are interested..in this case ourself

// Specifies flags that control binding and the way in which the search for members and types is conducted by reflection.

BindingFlags bf = BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly | BindingFlags.Public |

BindingFlags.GetProperty | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance;

Console.WriteLine("Filed Info:");

FieldInfo[] fields = t.GetFields(bf); // Get the fileds into an array.

foreach (FieldInfo f in fields)

Console.Write("\nField Name: " + f.Name + " Value: ");

try

// The parameter to get value is the object instance for which to get the value

val = f.GetValue(this).ToString();

System.Console.Write(val);

catch (FieldAccessException excp)

Console.WriteLine("FieldAccessException : " + excp.Message);

catch (TargetException excp)

Console.WriteLine("TargetException : " + excp.Message);

catch (ExecutionEngineException excp)

Console.WriteLine("ExecutionEngineException : " + excp.Message);

catch (MemberAccessException excp)

Console.WriteLine("MemberAccessException : " + excp.Message);

catch (Exception excp)

Console.WriteLine("Exception : " + excp.Message);

Console.WriteLine("");

Console.WriteLine("");

Console.WriteLine("Method Info:");

MethodInfo[] methodInfo = t.GetMethods(bf);

foreach (MethodInfo mi in methodInfo)

Console.Write("\nField Name: " + mi.Name + " Value: ");

try

System.Console.Write(val);

catch (MethodAccessException excp)

Console.WriteLine("MethodAccessException : " + excp.Message);

catch (TargetException excp)

Console.WriteLine("TargetException : " + excp.Message);

catch (ExecutionEngineException excp)

Console.WriteLine("ExecutionEngineException : " + excp.Message);

catch (MemberAccessException excp)

Console.WriteLine("MemberAccessException : " + excp.Message);

catch (Exception excp)

Console.WriteLine("Exception : " + excp.Message);

return base.ToString();

public void UsingGetValue(MyClass target)

string val;

Type t = typeof(MyClass); // Get the type of the class we are interested..in this case ourself

// Specifies flags that control binding and the way in which the search for members and types is conducted by reflection.

BindingFlags bf = BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly | BindingFlags.Public |

BindingFlags.GetProperty | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance;

Console.WriteLine("Filed Info:");

FieldInfo[] fields = t.GetFields(bf); // Get the fileds into an array.

foreach (FieldInfo f in fields)

Console.Write("\nField Name: " + f.Name + " Value: ");

try

// The parameter to get value is the object instance for which to get the value

System.Console.Write(val);

catch (FieldAccessException excp)

Console.WriteLine("FieldAccessException : " + excp.Message);

catch (TargetException excp)

Console.WriteLine("TargetException : " + excp.Message);

catch (ExecutionEngineException excp)

Console.WriteLine("ExecutionEngineException : " + excp.Message);

catch (MemberAccessException excp)

Console.WriteLine("MemberAccessException : " + excp.Message);

catch (Exception excp)

Console.WriteLine("Exception : " + excp.Message);